To those of you who have read this story, I have made some additions to it and ran it through with a fine-toothed comb, so hopefully all spelling errors are now corrected for your enjoyment :)
"Through A Lens, Darkly"
Lining up the cross-hairs, Jack Reed could smell the taste of sweet, sweet revenge. At long last he would have his vengeance. He'd waited too long for this moment. McGarrett was going to get his comeuppance and nothing was going to stop him. Nothing! Even if I have to take the whole team out, I will! All that matters is giving that bastard what he deserves!
His finger quivered impatiently on the trigger, waiting for the right moment. As soon as I have him in my sights, bam!
As the pair of fine dark lines, which intersected through the lens aligned onto its intended target, Reed smiled, elated that he would rid Hawaii of the thorn that was McGarrett. Squeezing the trigger, he kept his eye glued to the spot where he believed McGarrett's heart would be.
The resounding sharp crack of a rifle being fired rent the Honolulu air.
"Get down!" Hawaii's top cop shouted, though he knew the boys were all too familiar with the unmistakable sound of gun fire, and were already hitting the ground.
"Danno! Are you alright?" Steve placed a hand on the back of Dan's shoulder. He prayed no one was hurt as he glanced at the others, who lay flat on their bellies, not daring to move.
"Yeah Steve," Dan replied as he lifted his head an inch above the cement. His face showed the fear and surprise that mirrored that of his ohana's, who lay scattered around him like soldiers on a battlefield. A HPD Officer rushed out of the Iolani Palace, his weapon drawn.
"Get back! Call for reinforcements! We have a sniper on the loose!" Steve hollered at the HPD officer who stood on the steps of the Iolani Palace. He waved an arm across through the air in front of him to emphasize his point. The young officer hesitated at first, then quickly ran inside to do as he was instructed. Steve gasped in pain and thought at first he must've pulled a muscle when he waved the officer away. He groaned and drew back his arm. Instinctively his hand clutched at the stabbing pain in his chest. Alarm bells rang shrilly in his head, as loud as the sirens approaching them, and increasing in volume and intensity. He became aware of the warm substance that flowed through his fingers. The pungent, coppery aroma itself hit his nostrils and caused his abdominal muscles to contract nauseatingly. He didn't dare look down at himself or take his hand away, for fear of what his kaikaina would see.
After surveying the area at every angle possible from his restricted position, Dan's keen eyes sought his partner who had grown still and quiet. Quiet except for the unsteady rhythms of his breathing that quickly morphed into the labored attempts of someone desperately trying to pull air into his unco-operating lungs.
"Steve!" Dan gripped his boss's shoulder, concern filled his voice. The lead detective was facing the tarmac, but Dan could clearly see the paleness of his skin and the twitch of his muscle in his cheek. As if he was trying to hide to pain. It was so obviously evident, that Dan's heart thudded with a rising fear. Chin and Ben had already risen to their feet, crouching low, their eyes darting all around. Dan clambered on his hands and knees then gently but firmly, he tried to lift his best friend up higher from the ground to examine him for injuries he dreaded the head of Five'O had sustained.
"Dan-no. I'm-I'm alright. Go-go find him," Steve gasped in agony, then gritted his teeth and screwed his eyes shut in an effort to keep his stomach from heaving and achieve some level of pain control.
Ignoring Steve's refusal for assistance, Dan placed a hand on Steve's chest and wrapped his other arm around his shoulders. Slowly he began to lift the detective up, until his eyes caught sight of a dark crimson pool spreading across the bitumen. The realization of his own fingers becoming wet and sticky hit him like a tonne of bricks, "Oh my God! Steve! You're hit!" Dan's own respiration increased its rate and his eyes widened with the horror of seeing his kaikua'ana's blood still spilling on to the ground beneath him.
Steve's consciousness began to fade and lose its battle of coherence. All he could comprehend was more hands grasping him and turning him over then laying him down flat on his back. He was distantly aware of the voices around him and he tried to speak, to tell Danno …tell him what? I can't breathe! God it hurts….I'm dying! Danno, I don't know how much longer I can hold on….I can't even find the strength to say goodbye to my kaikaina.
"Call an ambulance! Hurry!"
"Officer down! We have an officer down!"
"Steve!"
"Stay with me Steve, you hear? Stay with me!"
The bright glare of the sun's rays blinded him, and Steve turned his head to the side on the hard surface, moaning in discomfort. He was thankful for the looming shadows that quickly surrounded him and shielded him from the unyielding Hawaiian sun.
"Dan-Danno," Steve gasped. He opened his eyes to find his second in command hovering and bending over him, loosening his tie. He was vaguely aware of the buttons on his shirt being ripped away as Dan abandoned his efforts of unbuttoning them and pulled the delicate fabric apart.
"Don't try to talk Steve. It's ok , ambulance is on its way. You're gonna be just fine," Dan's forehead broke out in a cold sweat as he finally laid Steve's shirt open. Dan took one look at the wound and knew his closest friend was in big pilikia. The first thing he had to do was stop the bleeding. He pulled out his handkerchief, hoping it would suffice until help arrived.
"Here. Take mine as well. We gotta slow that bleeding!" Chin handed his handkerchief over to Dan hastily. The sandy haired detective accepted the offer and placed it on top of the one he already had pressed against the wound on Steve's chest.
"Has someone called an ambulance? Where are they?" Panic overwhelmed Dan's normally composed state of mind. He glanced around wildly seeking out the neon lights but seeing only a stream of HPD cars moving towards them.
"Easy Danny! Duke's already called them. They're on their way!" Chin's consoling voice stopped Dan from trying to pick up and manoeuvre his partner to his LTD. He knew that Dan wanted to take Steve to the hospital himself, "If you move him, he could bleed to death, Danny."
"I can't stop the bleeding, Chin! Help me! What-what am I doing wrong? I'm pressing down as hard as I - I can, I- why won't it stop Chin?" Dan's hands were trembling as he vainly tried to stop the blood flow, holding the blood soaked handkerchiefs down against the wound. The injured detective groaned and began gasping for more air to feed his starved lungs. He wanted to tell Dan to ease the pressure, that he couldn't breathe but his parched throat and inability to draw enough oxygen made speaking an impossible fate. With every breath he tried to take, searing pain ripped through his chest. Dark spots invaded his vision, unconsciousness lurking nearby. Danno! I'm sorry…it hurts…can't breathe…
"Hold on Steve! Please hold on! Don't give up on me, dammit!" Dan croaked as the agonizing pain of losing his friend became too much to bear. He searched Steve's eyes for some sign that he was listening to him but all he could see were those blue seas of pain beginning to disappear behind heavily drooping eyelids.
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From up above, nestled in his lookout position, the sniper, Jack Reed watched with a deep sense of self satisfaction, licking his lips in excitement. He knew he'd hit the detective before he even went down. The lens never lies, never fails, always true, his depraved mind thought darkly. Time to go. Suddenly the doors to the roof of the Iolani Palace burst open. HPD officers led by Duke spotted Reed who was still crouched by the edge overlooking the crowd below. The rifle still in his hands, he turned towards the officers and began to raise the weapon but stopped in his tracks as he saw his chances of even taking one of the four down was slim to none. Duke rushed at the man before he could rise to his feet, and had him pinned down hard against the surface. More hands came to assist him and removed the rifle from the sniper's grasp.
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Blackness overpowered Steve's last will to stay conscious for his kaiaina. He surrendered to the dark abyss, escaping the agony that tore through him.
"They're here Danny!" Chin cried out as paramedics rushed to their side.
"Ok we got him now, son" A paramedic attended to Steve, replacing Dan's place who reluctantly moved aside. A medic applied a thick gauze over the wound to staunch the seemingly endless flow whilst another checked his pulse and blood pressure.
Steve's journey into unconsciousness was disturbed by a fit of coughing. Frothy droplets of blood sprayed out from lips that had already taken on a bluish tinge. The team of paramedics worked on the detective whilst the Five'O ohana could do nothing more but pray as they watched the life of the one they loved ebbing away into nothingness.
Dan whirled around when he saw Duke and several HPD officers bringing out the cuffed man responsible for this nightmare. A rifle with a scope attached was brought out in a clear bag by Frank Kemana. Blind fury gripped Dan's heart and he launched himself at the offender.
"Danny! NO!" Chin shouted seeing what the young man was about to do. Too late. There was no stopping Dan Williams even as strong hands tried to restrain him. He pulled away frantically, until he reached the despicable excuse for a human being who let out a triumphant laugh and spat in Dan's face. Before anyone could stop him, Dan had him by the collar with one hand whilst the other hand curled into a fist and he shot it forward, breaking the perpertrator's nose. The force of the blow whipped his head back. Blood covered his nose and ran down his chin. Dan then proceeded to wrap his hands around his throat, cutting off the man's oxygen supply completely, "You son of a bitch!"
"Danny! Steve's in the ambulance. They're leaving for the hospital now. Let's go Danny. He'll be waiting for us there. Danny Let's go bruddah!" A voice rang in Dan's ear, freeing him from the trance. "Danny come on, he's had it! Let him go Danny, let's go!"
Dan pulled away from the monster and out of the arms that loosened their holds on him, "Get him out of here!" the young detective was beyond anger. Devastation hit him like a tidal wave, consuming him in its unforgiving embrace. Taking deep breaths, he shrugged away from Chin and Ben then turned around and bolted to his black LTD. Starting up the engine, he sped away following the ambulance ahead.
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The clock continued its repetitive tick, tick, tick, as the seconds, minutes and hours went by at Queen's Hospital. Ben Kokua and Chin Ho Kelly sat solemnly in the waiting area occasionally eyeing Dan worriedly. Pacing the corridor, and glancing at the clock on the wall for the umpteenth time Dan felt suddenly chilled to the bones as he saw Doc Bergman walk slowly towards him, a grim expression settled on his weary face.
"Doc?" Dan spoke barely above a whisper. He was dimly aware of his fellow detectives rising from their seats and gathering in front of the physician.
"He's just come out of surgery. We almost lost him. His condition is critical but stable," Doc announced to the ohana.
Each detective let out a sigh of relief that at least Steve had made it through the operating theatre after 5 hours of surgically repairing his injuries.
"The bullet was lodged in close proximity of his posterior ribs after piercing and collapsing his left lung. He was extremely lucky his Guardian Angel was looking out for him today. That bullet was most certainly aimed at his heart but somehow, maybe, because of the trajectory angle, it hit the sternum which deflected it away from its initial target. Nevertheless it was still a very serious wound. The impact bruised his heart. We're keeping him under close observation for at least the next 48 hours. He's also lost a considerable amount of blood. We're giving him a second transfusion now," Doc looked at each of the detectives in turn. Both Chin and Ben smiled weakly. Colour returned slowly to Dan's face which had been deathly pale throughout the lengthy waiting period.
"Thank God! I thought – no- I can't even begin to imagine what I'd do if I lost him!" Dan felt tears burning the corners of his eyes and blinked them away, "Mahalo Doc for bringing him back to us!" Dan lost his self control and pulled Doc into a tight embrace. Bergman was lost for words. He settled for giving Dan a light, reassuring pat on the back.
"You can see him one at a time in a couple of hours," Doc Bergman gave them a faint smile of hope and Dan, Chin and Ben knew Steve was going to be just fine. It'll be a long road to recovery, but they would be there as his ohana every step of the way.
PAU